SEVERAL PEOPLE at Saturday’s Tommy Lasorda Day festivities at the Pomona Public Library asked if the white-haired, potbellied Italian in Dodger blue was Lasorda.

It wasn’t, but the man’s presence certainly simplified my role as judge of the Lasorda lookalike contest.

Once we’d all gathered in the library’s community room for a buffet lunch, I spotted Frank Corsaro at a table shoveling pasta into his mouth. I made a beeline for him and sat down opposite.

“You’ve gotta get some food,” Corsaro told me, continuing to eat.

He’s a Lasorda lookalike all right.

To be fair, two others entered the contest, but neither of the two bespectacled, middle-aged men, Jack Kramer or Jim Amroman, looked that much like Lasorda.

Kramer did spew Lasorda’s R-rated rant about Padre player Kurt Bevacqua from memory, while Amroman protested, as if to an umpire, “What do you mean that’s not a strike?!”

I asked whom they’d choose as winner. Both instantly pointed to Corsaro.

Alas, no women entered the contest, which was open to both sexes. The Baseball Reliquary organized the afternoon of activities, as well as an exhibit on Lasorda on view at the library through May 28.

Corsaro, 74, of Montclair said he’s been mistaken for Lasorda for three decades. They’ve met once but only talked baseball, not looks.

“I’m much better looking than him,” Corsaro quipped.

We resumed our seats. The program continued. Corsaro picked up his plate.

“In true Tommy fashion…” he told me as he returned to the buffet for seconds.

Mayor Elliott Rothman arrived moments later to present the winner with a certificate of recognition from the city of Pomona. He was on his way to a ribbon-cutting for a Christian bookstore and had just come from a flag retirement ceremony at the American Legion.

Or as he’d joked to the Reliquary’s Terry Cannon by phone a half-hour earlier: “I’ll be over there shortly. I’m burning a flag.”

As for whom to give the certificate, Rothman said, tongue in cheek: “Let me look in the audience and see if I can pick him out.” He pretended surprise upon seeing Corsaro, and added: “Not a tough choice.”

True. Compared to Corsaro, even Lasorda, who did not attend, might have come in second.

***

STICKING TO the topic of Pomona, Monday’s council meeting was a quieter affair than some.

One highlight came early, when three students spoke about a program that took fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders from three schools to City Hall, the Pomona Unified headquarters, the library, Palomares Adobe and art galleries.

“When I heard we were going to take a trip around Pomona, I wasn’t too excited, because I thought my city was kind of boring,” a Kellogg Elementary student admitted. “Pomona is a lot more interesting than I thought it was.”

Well said.

The council also decided to ban inflatable bounce houses from smaller parks.

Resident Diana Smith, who was in favor of the ban, said she saw a different type of bounce house over the weekend.

“There was actually an inflatable church in the park right across the street from my house. It had seats inside,” Smith said.

A bounce house of worship?

The definition of bounce houses might have to be expanded (so to speak) to make sure it’s generic enough to include everything.

“I don’t want us to have to come back at a later date to ban inflatable churches,” Councilwoman Paula Lantz quipped.

Speaking of Lantz, she offered a wakeup call to those concerned about the possible closure of a fire station, the subject of two recent community meetings.

Pomona has fewer police officers, librarians and public works employees than two years ago and has outsourced building inspection and most park maintenance.

“We’re having these community meetings on the fire station, but all your other services have already been decreased,” Lantz told the audience. “And there are more layoffs in the future.”

Think twice before inviting Lantz to your next party. Seriously, though, the budget is due June 7, and drastic cuts are expected to close a $14 million shortfall (about 15 percent of the budget).

Even with concessions from employees, layoffs will be necessary, Lantz told me afterward. While the rumored closure of the library is indeed possible, she said staying open on a reduced schedule is looking likelier.

Grim times. Better say a prayer for Pomona.

Or at least visit an inflatable church.

***

HIGH EXPECTATIONS DEPT.: A woman working in her yard in Pomona Monday evening recognized me walking to my car after a cheap pre-meeting dinner. We chatted a minute.

She said, eyeing my battered, 12-year-old Corolla, “I thought that was you when you pulled up. But I wasn’t sure. I figured you drove a Lexus.”

***

“LOST” FANS, what are your predictions for Sunday’s final episode, where do you intend to watch it and how obsessed are you with the series? Drop me an e-mail and I’ll try to compile the best responses for a column later this week.

Since 1997, David Allen has been taking up valuable newsprint and pixels at the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, where he is a columnist and blogger (insidesocal.com/davidallen). Among his specialties: city council meetings, arts and culture, people, places, local history, dining and a log in a field that resembled the Loch Ness monster. The Illinois native has spent his newspaper career in California, starting in 1987 at the Santa Rosa News-Herald and continuing at the Rohnert Park-Cotati Clarion, Petaluma Argus-Courier and Victor Valley Daily Press. A resident of Claremont who roots for the St. Louis Cardinals and knows far too much about Marvel Comics, the Kinks and Frank Zappa's Inland Valley years, he is the author of two collections of columns: "Pomona A to Z" and "Getting Started."

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